Hulkenberg: “Very hard” to extract maximum from F1 car at British GP

Nico Hulkenberg says he was unable to extract the full potential of his Racing Point Formula 1 car in qualifying for the British Grand Prix.

The German was called up as a last minute replacement for Sergio Perez on Thursday after the Mexican tested positive for Coronavirus.

Hulkenberg narrowly missed out on a spot in Q3 and will line up for Sunday’s race in 13th place.

Reflecting on his first qualifying outing since the 2019 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Hulkenberg admitted he found it difficult to extract more from his car to the short amount of time he had in the car in the lead up to qualifying.

“I feel there was more potential and I didn’t get everything from the table, but given the circumstances - it was also very hard.

“I don’t know if you can expect to get 100% from the car in those circumstances. It was small margins. Q3 was not far away. We played around with the different compounds so it was a bit tricky with the rhythm. It is what it is today.”

Hulkenberg’s Q2 exit means he has free tyre choice for the race.

“That’s always a good option. I think some of the top ten runners also start on the harder tyre - the medium. It’s going to be interesting to see. For me, so many new inputs and every situation I enter into with the car is new.”

The German also admitted he was struggling with the physical demands that the high-speed Silverstone circuit puts on drivers.

“Let me tell you these cars are beasts! There’s so much downforce. I’ve never felt so much speed in the corners here, so much Gs [G-force] - it’s pretty impressive but also tough.”